Burn your journals. Maybe. Either way, here’s some inspiration on letting go.

Danielle LaPorte
3 min readDec 3, 2018

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In honour of Mercury in Retrograde (Nov 16th to Dec 6th, 2018) here’s some perspective on letting go. Let me back up: Astrologically speaking, Mercury is the planet that rules communication, self-expression, and coordination. About three times a year it goes retrograde (think: moving backwards) and that can cause some chaos in technology, travel, and understanding each other clearly. It can also be a time when the past comes up — an old boyfriend reaches out, you bump into a former roommate.

But no need to be freaked out. Mercury Retro can cause some frustrations, BUT it’s just asking for stuff to be sorted out. REFRAME and OPTIMIZE! It’s a brilliant time for letting go, purging, tying up loose ends, and getting organized. Let go and line up. So…

I burned about 20 years of journals. Pages and pages of gut-red poetry and angst; cosmic gorgeousness and tender prayers; lists of wants, boyfriends (a loose term), and favourite perfumes.

With every page I fed into the fireplace, I smiled. Thank you. Goodbye. Hellohhh here & now.

REASONS FOR THE BIG BURN

  • I’m not really interested in the idea of leaving a legacy. If I die tomorrow and vanish from everyone’s memories, fine by me. I’m here for now.
  • I love deeply and I’m very ritualistic, but I’m not very nostalgic.
  • I love my present, I love my future, I love the vastness of my past. But I’ve found that investing in the future has way better return on investment.
  • I’ve come to the conclusion that reliving pain is actually not that conducive to my joy or creativity. Nope, just isn’t.
  • I’ve tried recapitulation and obsessive, neurotic over-attachment as a means to self-improvement, and funnily enough, it doesn’t seem to work. I can find plenty to be sad about in my current life — I don’t need to go digging up old material.
  • I love ritual and fire. Really, if you want to burn something DOWN, invite me. Funeral pyre, anyone? I’ll bring the matches.
  • For me, clutter-free living is up there with rainbows, front row seats, and answered prayers.

INSIGHTS FROM THE BURN

  • It helped me become even more glaringly aware of my insignificance on the planet. Thrilling. Generally, I’m happy with the work I put into the world. But realistically, not long after I die, my work will fade from view. Beyond, say, my great-grandchildren, if they ever come to be, I’m dust to dust.
  • Personal insignificance is provocative when you’re making your art. Remembering how insignificant you are helps you to be more daring, more honest, more… here.
  • Privacy is powerful energy to harness. One of my favourite things about being alive is the fleeting intimacy of events. Me. You. A moment only we shared. Gone. God, I love that compression of the sacred and the mundane. I like knowing that most everything will never happen again. So let it go.
  • I want my past to move through me like water. I want my ideal future to come to me as easily. Fluid yesterday, fluid tomorrow.
  • You get to make it all up anyway. History is malleable because memory is subjective.
  • Do not give your past the power to define your future.

There are archivists. There are burners. I’d never advise on journal-burning issues, it’s a very personal matter. To keep, torch, it’s your free will. But I can tell you this: Traveling lighter helps me shine brighter.

All Love,
Danielle

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Danielle LaPorte
Danielle LaPorte

Written by Danielle LaPorte

Opinionated introvert often mistaken for an extrovert. I write about stuff I find in the cosmos…mostly Love. Author of The Desire Map, White Hot Truth + FSS.

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